still have showers on the radar. we'll show you where they're headed and finally when we'll get a break from the rain. and that means some wet roads around the bay as well. i'll tell you about a new accident for the north bay coming up. and more drama. how about a walk-off win for the a's. this video shot just after that game-winning hit. hugs, high fives, good vibrations all around. who cares if you know the person next to you, share the love. it's playoff baseball. we'll have a live report coming up. a live look outside overlooking san francisco. we've also got your giants coverage on this yourself, october 11th. this is "today in the bay." good morning to you and thanks for joining us. i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> good morning, everybody, i'm jon kelley. she has been missing for more than 20 years and police believe they may have a clue that could help them find mikayla garrett.

christie smith is live in hayward where police believe they may have a break in the disappearance of the hometown girl missing since way back in 1988. some monumental news here possibly. >> reporter: yeah, good morning to you, jon. over the years this has been both a tragedy and a mystery here. a little girl kidnapped in broad daylight, had a friend with her at the time. now comes a possible break in the case. hayward police are testing a bone fragment, a three-inch phone fragment that turned up in the central valley. the 9-year-old mikayla garrett disappeared from a hayward corner market on mission boulevard in 1988. michaela's mom tells the tribune that she believes it could belong to her daughter. the bone of a girl 5 to 13 years old. hayward police say they received a fragment from a well in lindon believed to hold victims of the

so-called speed freak killers. they were convicted of four murders and are suspected in the deaths of at least a dozen other people. the fragment came after the remains of another victim, joanne hobson, were identified and lab tests on her revealed that her remains were actually mixed in with others probably during the excavation process during the investigation. this of course opens up the possibility that there may be other victims that are still unidentified. hayward police expected to reveal more a little bit later this morning. reporting live in hayward, christie smith, "today in the bay." switching gears and happening now, a's fans waking up with smiles on their faces. >> this has been so fun to watch. the green and gold pushing detroit to game five set for later on today. comcast sportsnet henry wofford is live at o.co where hours ago the a's were working that magic in the ninth inning. i know you were loving every

minute of it. >> reporter: how could you not love what's going on out here in oakland. in fact, if you love drama, don't waste your time at the movies. the only thing you have to do is go to the oakland coliseum and there's plenty of drama here. another dramatic win for the oakland a's. last night the bottom of the ninth, seth smith double had to right. two score to tie the game at three. and remember when coco crisp was in the dog house two games ago? that's old news. coco crisp singles to right, seth smith scores. a walk-off victory for the green and gold. 4-3 is your final. there will be a game five. >> well, we've heard we're not smart enough to know we are supposed to lose a game. but we've never given up all the way to the last out and that showed tonight. so we've got to keep doing what we've been doing all year. >> there's no quit. that's the way it should be and the way we've gone about our

business all season long. >> reporter: let the fun begin. it will be winner takes all tonight. first pitch is at 6:37. your starters, jared parker, 23 years old, going up against justin verlander, the reigning a.l. mvp and cy young winner. it doesn't get any bigger than this. jon and laura, sit back, relax, because we'll have a lot to talk about tonight on nbc bay area. we're looking forward to. >> it that's a hard thing to relax because we're all so excited and into it. >> we're channelling your energy, henry. appreciate it. good stuff. >> reporter: thank you. fans headed to the game out there certainly want to get there early. make not quite as early as bob redell. he's already live out there at the coliseum with a look at what we need to know. good morning. >> reporter: yeah, i'm ready to tailgate. i've got my spot. yeah, we're talking about

getting here early because there are going to be two games tonight. you've got the a's game, the fifth and final game a little after 6:30. a soldout crowd of roughly 36,000 people. right next door at oracle arena, you've got the golden state warriors playing an exhibition basketball game around 7:30. both these teams share the same parking lot. the oakland a's are telling people you do want to arrive early or consider taking b.a.r.t. keep in mind those trains will be crowded. that was the scene here last night after the a's pulled off a surprise win against the detroit tigers, keeping the team's postseason hopes alive with a final game five being played tonight, the winner of which will advance to the playoffs for the american league pennant. >> we're going to win, baby. we're about to win! we got this! >> that was amazing, absolutely

amazing. >> let's go, oakland! >> reporter: as i mentioned, tonight's game is sold out at just over 36,000 tickets sold. o.co can hold 10,000 more teams but the team has tarped many of the upper deck seats citing lack of demand and the fact there isn't enough time to remove them, even though some fans have demanded their removal in recent days. game five tonight roughly 6:37 at o.co. reporting live, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> fans have the rally mustard, doing the lean but that baseball fever all across the country. in cincinnati the san francisco giants already awake. they're getting ready for game five, doing like the a's coming back from down 2-0. the winner moves on to the nl championship. >> comcast sportsnet's scott reese is live in cincinnati where the game starts in just

about five hours. >> reporter: yeah. i'm not sure if the giants are awake but i'm awake. that's the important thing. the a's had all the drama on the west coast but the giants gave us no drama and that's perfectly okay with them because the bats finally came to life after being dormant a couple of days. it started with angel pagan leading off with a home run. before most of the fans found their seats, it was a giant lead 1-0 and they never looked back. pablo sandoval almost murders the baseball almost to the ohio river and tim lincecum did the rest. he spoke with our jaymee sire after the game. >> reporter: what a big game for you personally. what was it like to come out of the bullpen and give your team such a lift? >> i think the situation made it easier. we had the lead and tons of confidence coming out of the pen. just letting go of what has been going on in the year and just focusing on what we need to do to win and that's just being aggressive on the mound,

throwing strikes and leaving it on the field. >> reporter: lincecum was the first relief pitcher to go four innings and get a win since kelly downs in the 1989 nlcs. game five coming up from cincinnati. first pitch just after 1:00 local time. that is 10:00 a.m. back on the west coast. of course our coverage over on comcast sportsnet begins with october quest at high noon. guys, back to you. >> thanks a lot, scott. >> scott to love that early start. that means people will be drinking beer starting at 9:00 a.m. or so. christina loren is here to tell us about the weather happening. what are the a's looking at? >> oh, we could see a stray shower move over oakland call sum. the winds will play more of a factor this afternoon. but of course they know how to play in that ballpark so it should be in the favor of our oakland athletics. let's start with this live picture. it looks like it snowed in gilroy yesterday. you can see hail all over the ground. i just want to keep everybody

safe. if you see hail outside, you don't have to grab your camera and take a picture, we want you to stay safe. whenever there's thunderstorms in the area, you have a very slight risk of being struck by lightning. i don't want that to happen to my friends so please do not go outside and take a picture. 54 degrees down south here in san jose. here's the weather maker still on the map. you can see that core of low pressure concentrated. the western-facing slopes morgan hill to gilroy still getting brief heavy downpours from time to time. also seeing a little activity up in the north bay and that's enough to slow the commute. temperatures are going to be comfortable but cool. you'll probably need that jacket all day long. 68 out in the extreme east bay in concord. 63 for san francisco and i think gilroy will be the warm spot again. once we heat up this afternoon,

we have that risk of thunderstorms. we'll talk about that. i've got your official a's forecast and your giants forecast coming up soon. first let's check that drive. hi, mike. >> officially connecting both sides, oakland and san francisco making peace right now is the bay bridge. a nice easy drive at the topeka. you c -- toll plaza. interstate 80 at the limit. we still have your overnight road work for crews approaching the area. typical for 880 and across the bridge. up to the north bay we do have one new accident southbound 101 around miller creek road. as you see slowing approaching there, the accident still reported in one of your middle lanes so use caution just south of highway 37 but smoother as we take a live look through san rafael. look at that, two cars, back to you. >> smooth sailing. 5:10 right now. still ahead, a south bay arsonist striking again. we'll have the details coming up.

and get ready for joe biden versus paul ryan. the vice presidential candidates set to square off tonight. good morning, i'm marla tellez. i'll have a preview. >> and more money lent to tesla. we'll look at how much and from whom coming up. and for the latest news, traffic, weather, feel free to check us out on facebook. just search nbc bay area. to wo, dance class, shopping, and more. so do something nice for it. chevron with techron. care for your car.

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and natural flavors in yoplait original. so, anything else we can do for you, let us know. but you'll keep it to yogurt, right? 'cause we shouldn't really help with your love life. yoplait. it is so good! well, the state of california is giving tesla $10 million to hurry along an electric suv. scott mcgrew, this comes as the company is having trouble getting the new sedan out the door, right? >> that's right. tesla says the model s sedan is moving ahead more slowly than expected and we're at least two years away from the model x crossover suv. nonetheless, the california

energy commission will send $10 million to tesla to help build model x and build the assembly line. this is state money gathered from vehicle registration and smog checks. the same board sent $2 million to the electric bike maker zero motorcycles from santa cruz. the other company run by elon musk, spacex. says all systems are go with its space capsule. astronauts opened the hatch early, nearly a day early. dragon has a freezer inside meaning nasa could send real ice cream up to space and astronauts can fill it with real biological samples and send it back. gas prices may be higher but chevron's prices aren't. the company helped lead the dow lower wednesday. let's check in with courtney reagan at cnbc headquarters. good morning. >> reporter: hi, good morning to

you, scott. futures are higher after yesterday's sell-off. the dow managed to avoid it's first 1% decline in the past three and a half months. earnings were the culprit. alcoa cut its global demand forecast for aluminum and chevron warned it will report sharply lower results. we'll get data on unemployment filings today. the dow fell to 13,344, the nasdaq lost 13 to 3051. jon and laura, they're putting the finishing touches on the new myth busters exhibit in san jose. you can try out the myths and decide if they're plausible or not. bob redell will walk us through this whole thing live on the news this morning at 11:00. it's looks really, really fun. >> they have had a lot of billboards advertising it. >> bob redell getting his hands on that play set is important television. tell your friends, spread the word. christina loren, what are we talking about weatherwise?

>> it is ridiculous because marin county yesterday completely sunny, completely sunny. people were like what's going on down south? well, we had some strong storms develop, firing off lightning. frequent reports of hail from hollister to gilroy all the way up to los gatos. right now it's the calm before we get another round of isolated thunderstorms this afternoon. i want to start with this beautiful live look at the palace of fine arts. you can clearly see that. expecting more fog than we've had all week long. here is our center of low pressure located over the central valley. so if you're headed down south travel very cautiously. as the system of low pressure moves over the mountains, that's when it gets enhancement and what happened yesterday. today we're talking about just light showers. you can see two areas of low pressure. the first has been sitting and spening and bringing us those showers. it's been there for nine days.

it's going to get that push it needs from a very substantial system of low pressure moving in from the gulf after las. this one is packi ing cold air. so for today what you need to know, clouds and fog by friday. very slight chance of showers and we'll get drizzle on saturday morning with thick, low clouds. that's what happens when high pressure builds back in, compresses everything out in the atmosphere and you get that drizzle. 66 in fremont, 68 in san jose. three-day forecast tells the story. we'll be at 76 on saturday. by sunday into monday the warmup begins. 86 degrees by wednesday. i'm still holding on to that a's forecast and that giants forecast. it's coming up in my next report. let's check on your drive with mike. >> we're going to take you over by the home of the a's. quite a bit of activity last night. as well tonight. as bob reported we have beau the a's and warriors playing so a lot of congestion in the area. right now we're happy about this

flow northbound with the taillights. looking over here north past the area and not a lot of commotion here. the maps show you a little slowing as construction clears just north of the coliseum. we saw a rolling traffic break heading up toward 23rd and that should be just about clear. the southbound side still has construction remaining. 580 was a nightmare yesterday. so far easy commute. i'll knock on wood. looking to the east bay, tri-valley we see a little slowing out of the altamont pass. this is not a major concern on vasko. it looks like things have dried out as well. the south bay moves very smoothly right now. north 101 underneath the 680/280 interchange, not a real concern. up the peninsula, 101 continues with a nice easy drive past 92. here coming over from the east bay, the san mateo bridge at the

limit and the construction crews moving away from the eastbound side as well so a little slowing for the next few until you get to the hayward side. back to you. >> thanks, mike. now moving on to decision 2012. it is the debate being touted as head versus heart. the vice presidential candidates will face off tonight in their one and only debate. marla tellez is in our newsroom with a look at what we can expect. >> reporter: laura, good morning. heading into tonight's matchup analysts say vice president joe biden faces the greater burden here in the aftermath of president obama's lackluster performance against mitt romney last week. biden is now tasked with slowing the momentum the romney campaign has picked up since then, so he says he's been studying paul ryan's policies, his speeches and his budget. meanwhile experts say the challenge for ryan will be to fend off efforts to link his own past budget proposals with romney's economic vision. >> i think he's probably going to come at me like a cannon ball.

but the achilles heel he has is president obama's record. >> i just want to make sure that when i say these things that i don't have the congressman saying no, no, no, i don't have that position or that's not the governor's position. >> reporter: now, in terms of experience, biden has the upper hand. the 69-year-old veteran politician has several debates under his belt. ryan can't say the same. this is the 42-year-old's first 90-minute vp debate. it all gets under way at 6:00 our time tonight. it's being held at center college in danville, kentucky, and we will have it live so you can catch it right here on nbc bay area. coming up in my next live report we'll talk about who is expected to win tonight's debate. jon and laura. >> thanks, marla. >> looking forward to it. 5:20 right now. coming up, another fire in san jose. police now looking for a serial arsonist. we'll have all the details coming up next. and taking a live look outside oakland coliseum this morning, all lit up. a little quiet now but things

will get lively later. we've got a look at all the action in today's sports. it's 5:20.

>> weekelcome back, everybody. the san jose sharks lockout still in progress. contract talks, they're trying to get something done. they had a second day of talks yesterday. possibly they'll speak again today but no imminent contract agreement in sight. it is 5:23 right now. a former east bay math teacher all set to appear in court today. marie johnson facing sexual assault charges. she'll be attending a preliminary hearing. investigators say the 41-year-old carried on a relationship with a former student while teaching at livermore's grenada high school. she has so far pled not guilty to the charges.

5:23. san jose police are on the hunt for a serial arsonist who targets trash bins. investigators say the suspect struck again just after 8:00 last night, the second time in a week. a bin was set on fire at a neighborhood not too far from the santa clara valley medical center. police say good samaritans helped put out that fire before firefighters arrived and no one was hurt. in total there have been nine trash bin fires in the area since late september. >> all right. 5:24. let's get another check on the weather. very unpredictable out there. christina loren here to decipher it all. >> yeah, you know it's been crazy. isolated thunderstorms are really hard to forecast. you told you the general vicinity yesterday. we have the same chance same place today. western-facing slopes surrounding san jose. let's talk baseball. you will notice winds coming into play today out at the oakland coliseum. temperatures are going to be crisp and cool.

by 7:00 p.m. 62 degrees out there. we have a very slight chance of very light showers rolling over o.co coliseum so keep that in mind. now, the giants versus the reds, in cincinnati you probably noticed if you watched that game, the winds played a major factor. they were rather strong, taking that ball out to center field. today the ball will be taken out to left field or right down the third baseline. winds aren't going to be quite as strong but the temperatures will be cool. 52 degrees for the first pitch and cold, dense air is not great news for a pitcher as the cold, dense air tends to weigh the ball down. let's check your drive with mike. we're looking at a nice, smooth easy drive across the golden gate bridge. look at this beautiful, beautiful shot here over my shoulder. we'll show you the maps just a little farther north where we look at a smooth flow of traffic coming south out of san rafael. that's your commute direction. however, getting over the san rafael bridge, that's 580, you

do have road crews typical overnight. the earlier accident southbound 101 coming through marin, right around miller creek, that accident the slowing has cleared from our sensors. they likely have moved all activity off to the shoulder. there's some slowing coming over from vallejo heading in toward this part of the north bay. we'll get a live look on the east bay and see the bay bridge toll plaza where the east shore freeway in the horizon, stull a light flow. 18 minutes from the carquinez bridge to this bridge and a smooth, light flow here so no metering lights, guys. it is 5:26. still to come on "today in the bay," playoff fever sweeping the entire bay area. a live look at oakland coliseum. that place will just be rocking tonight. the giants may be on the road but fans sending all the good vibrations out. [ male announcer ] pillsbury grands biscuits.

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this morning hayward police looking into whether a newly discovered bone fragment can solve the mystery of a 24-year-old kidnapping of a child. i'm christie smith. i'll have that story coming up. and quarter-size hail yesterday over parts of the bay area. we have a very slight risk of that today. we'll show you where and when. and we're tracking the roads for the effects of the weather this morning. we'll see how it shapes up because yesterday it was a really tough drive. >> we're going to win, baby! we're about to win! we got this! >> can you believe this? >> no, i cannot. that was amazing! absolutely amazing! >> let's go, oakland! >> and the educated guess, they're still partying right now. a walk-off win has a's fans thinking all about the a.l. championship. >> get them some hot tea this morning. there's more celebrating to do. also across the bay in san francisco this morning, we're thinking of the giants as well.

we've got your coverage on this thursday, october 11th. this is "today in the bay." good morning to you and thanks for joining us. 5:30. i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> and i'm jon kelly. good morning, everybody. she disappeared way back in the '80s, missing now for 24 years. this morning there's a possible break in the case of missing hayward girl michaela garecht. christie smith is live in hayward with what police are saying could after all these years finally lead them to michaela. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, jon. when this happened, this really shook the bay area. a 9-year-old girl goes to a neighborhood market here in hayward with her friend. she just wanted to get some candy and some soda. outside of the store, a man snatched her into a car. that was 24 years ago. well, now a new development in the case. a bone fragment found in the central valley. 9-year-old michaela garecht was

kidnapped 24 years ago from the corn are of mission boulevard and lafayette. michael michaela's mom says it could be her girl. she was told it belongs to a girl between 9 and 13 years old. they delivered the fragment to arizona for dna testing. it was located in a well in lindon in the central valley. that well believed to hold the victims of the so-called speed freak killers. the discovery comes after the remains of victim joanne hobson were identified. a lab determined that there were bones belonging to two to four other people mixed with hers. that mixup may have come when investigators used heavy equipment to dig up the well. the pair was convicted of four murders and suspected in at least a dozen others. of course this leaves open the possibility that there could be other victims of the speed freak killers that still haven't been

identified. hayward police expected to speak on this sometime later this morning. reporting live in hayward, christie smith, "today in the bay." happening now, the giants getting ready for game five of the nl division series. they certainly have the momentum on their side. >> and that's all important in the playoffs. a huge victory in cincinnati yesterday. two straight victories, both facing elimination and today the giants have a chance to take that series and bring it on home. scott reese is live at great american ballpark right now. scott, how is the energy back there? we're on fire back here. how are you feeling? >> reporter: i'm doing okay. game five, early start time so we don't have to wait long to find out how this all plays out. the giants may have left their hearts in san francisco but they found their bats in cincinnati. they busted out last night with 11 hits, including three home runs. angel pagan leading off the game with a long ball and pablo sandoval almost hit one into the ohio river, 422 feet.

the giants win this one going away. tim lincecum 4 1/3 innings out of the bullpen and he picks up the win in relief of barry zito. the giants tie up the series and the reds crowd was stunned. one defagame for the series. giants/reds just after 10:00 a.m. our coverage over on comcast sportsnet begins at high noon. the giants have only played one game five in a best of five series. that was back in 2002 and they beat the braves. we'll see if history repeats itself today in cincinnati. >> we remember it well. thanks so much, scott. comeback kids, they're certainly at it again. a's finding another way to win. >> i think it's official, we have to call them the cardiac athletics. hen wofford is live where the a's finished with a walk-off win. i'm surprised there's still not fans out there celebrating

behind you. >> reporter: they probably are we just can't find them right now. i tell you what, we need some "rocky" music right now, a little bit of -- this team is crazy. every time they fall down on the canvas, they get right back up and they start swinging. that's why they call them the swingin' a's. let's go out to last night's highlights. unbelievable. we're talking about the bottom of the ninth inning, the a's needed a miracle. they're down 3-1. seth smith doubles to deep right center. josh reddick comes home. then coco crisp, they needed him to be the hero and once again he comes up big. a single to right, and it is a walk-off fashion victory for the oakland a's. they win 4-3. there will be a game five and game five is tonight at 6:37 is the first pitch. once again it's going to be the

rookie pitcher, 23-year-old jared parker on the hill taking on justin verlander. he is the reigning american league mvp and cy young winner. they say never say never with this oakland a's team and, boy, are they a good team. but you guys are going to have to do me a favor and find that "rocky" music immediately. i need to stay warm out here. >> we've got you, man. i've done this show for a year now and this is the first time i've had that done so beautifully, so thanks so much. we'll see you a little later on. that's great stuff. >> thank you, henry. you know, the a's telling fans to get to the park earlier. bob redell is at the oakland coliseum as well with the details for us. you got your mitt? >> reporter: i do. good morning to you, laura. good morning to you, jon. there's going to be two games here tonight at o.co over my shoulder. you've got the a's playing the

tigers at 6:30. soldout crowd of roughly 36,000. and right next door at the oracle arena, the golden state warriors will be playing an exhibition basketball game at 7:30. both teams share the same parking lot. do the math, there's going to be quite a crowd. the other option of course is b.a.r.t., but just remember those trains are going to be crowded. that was the scene here last night after the a's pulled off a surprise win against the detroit tigers. boy, they need some caffeine it looks like. keeping the team's postseason hopes alive. their final game five is tonight. the winner will advance to the playoffs for the american league pennant. >> if there was a cloud 30 i'd be on that one, i'm so excited. >> i'm overjoyed that we finally got to this place. >> reporter: tonight's game is sold out at just over 36,000

tickets, as i mentioned, though o.co can hold about 10,000 more fans. you can see that the team has tarped many of the upper deck seats, citing lack of demand and the fact that there isn't time to remove them, even though some fans have tried to put a grassroots effort together demanding the removal of those tarps in recent days which has not happened and is not going to happen in tonight for tonight's game five. reporting live here in oakland, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> there are fans that are screaming to be in there. >> we're certainly not the bay area divided, we're unified this morning. christina loren joins with us a look at our forecast. you've got the flags flying. >> i was thinking i was going to wake up and the a's flag would not be up. we can't stay up that late but we had good thoughts going out to the a's. yeah, this is a beautiful sight and hopefully we wake up tomorrow morning and we'll have both flags still flapping in the breeze.

we did have some very interesting weather yesterday. quarter-size hail near gilroy. we had dime-size hail near hollister. obviously the south bay cities surrounded by the mountains saw all the activity. today that's the same deal as we head throughout the afternoon when it comes to those isolated thunderstorms. the best chance is over the higher elevations, especially down south, as our center of low pressure has moved into the central valley. we're still getting showers, very light activity up and down u.s. 1 and 101 as well, so watch out for that. the coast and the mountains will see that activity as we head throughout the morning. and mike even said chp is reporting a little bit of act on the altamont pass. what do you have out there, mike? >> we do have some of that. let's take you first across the bay where we're looking at the san mateo bridge. we are looking at a smooth low but more light so the volume is starting to pick up. let's show you over on the peninsula side and look at a nice, smooth flow of traffic on 92 getting a little smoother through that area we had earlier

construction. on the other side of the bay we have a little slowing 880 right around the san mateo bridge but the unusual thing is that it's on the northbound side. we typically see the southbound side with the build. we'll track that but nothing out of the ordinary as far as that flow. here is what christina is talking about. i'm telling her i'm seeing more of this. our contour maps show where this could be mist, drizzle, fog and some sprinkles. it could be an issue of traction on the road. we're going to end with one quick shot -- we're going to end with this and send it back to you. i'll show you another live shot later. back to you. 5:39. we told you about discrimination against a local boy scout who happens to be gay. see what he has to say to ellen before this afternoon's show rolls out. and eight days after the first presidential debate, it's now the vp candidates' turn to square off. good morning, i'm marla tellez with what you can expect, plus why the moderator is already causing a little controversy coming up.

time for decision 2012. new poll numbers out this morning show the presidential race is tight in three key battleground states. tracie potts is live on capitol hill with the numbers for us. good morning. >> reporter: laura, good morning. we've been waiting on these to see if mitt romney got the same bounce in these key states as he did nationally. it looks like he did at least in some areas. let's take a look in ohio. this is an area where the president had quite a lead and he retapes a six-point lead but mitt romney gained two percentage points in ohio. that's significant at this stage of the game. also let's take a look at virginia. and virginia quite a turn-around by three points. mitt romney is now up by one. he is leading virginia, but that one point is well within the margin of error so statistically we call that a tie. finally florida, battleground florida, where it's still a horse race.

mitt romney one point behind president obama. again statistically a tie. so two of the three states are tied. in the other, the president is leading but mitt romney has made some gains. today president obama is in florida. romney is in north carolina as this race continues. >> thank you very much. meantime the candidates' running mates are getting ready to face off in their very first and only debate during this election. marla tellez is live in the newsroom with a preview. >> reporter: good morning. the vice presidential debate is being touted as head versus heart. 42-year-old republican candidate paul ryan seen as an effective up and comer while 69-year-old joe biden is viewed as the veteran politician who will strike a better bond with the audience. the two will face each other tonight in danville, kentucky. now, analysts say ryan is tasked with defending the conservative physicfiz fiscal policies while biden's

job is to forcefully confront ryan. new pew research shows 40% think ryan will have a stronger showing versus the 34% who think biden will come out on top. now, the debate gets under way at centre college in kentucky at 6:00 pacific time. we will have it on nbc bay area. here's an interesting side note. it is being moderated by martha raddatz of abc news and she's taken some heat for inviting president obama to her wedding, but that was back in 1991. laura. >> interesting. thank you very much. looking forward to that debate. hey, take a look at this. >> what is going on with that? >> that is actually in gilroy. certainly caught a lot of people by surprise. a storm moved through the city dumping buckets of hail on this neighborhood. in a matter of minutes it looked like snow had fallen. kids had to get out there -- go on, rake it up, sweep it up, whatever you have to do. i love they're california kids

in their shorts. >> long shorts, though, an very insulated. >> they got close to 80 degrees in gilroy yesterday. so it is absolutely absurd. yeah, you know, you lived in an area where they get that commonly, the midwest. we like it how they raise them in nebraska. they say what, corn fed? hey, according to the ladies on my facebook page, i'm not alone. 57 in oakland to start, 56 in concord. good morning to you. in the east bay, a lot of excited athletics fans and of course san francisco, you want your giants to win. we'll have that forecast coming up. as we head throughout the day today, this area of low pressure will still bring in some showers. we are not out of the woods. i put together a pretty significant futurecast. mostly on the western-facing slopes surrounding san jose, just like yesterday. watch for slick conditions on your way to work this morning. so the first area of low pressure, you can see it here, counterclockwise rotation moving to the south. this is going to get nudged by another area of low pressure

that is quickly approaching the coastline. as we head throughout the next 48 hours we'll keep this very slight chance for showers in the mix. wait until i show you that futurecast. look what's headed our way just in time for the evening commute. look at this, look what comes up from the south. 4:00 p.m. you're getting all that moisture. it's closing in on you from the east bay and also the coast. we continue that futurecast getting a lot of rain between 4:00 and 8:00 and the whole thing clears out with spotty activity tomorrow morning. highs work out like this. 72 in fairfield, 70 in livermore, 70 in gilroy and 64 in santa cruz. 63 degrees in san francisco. it's going to be really nice as we head throughout the next couple of days. temperatures very comfortable, mix of sun and clouds with those isolated thunderstorms because in addition to that rain, you're going to see these embedded thunderstorms. and the best chance for that active weather when we talk about severe storms developing, that's going to be down south. into degrees mon. by tuesday we hold on to the

80s. nice, warm weekend ahead. next week is looking warm overall as well before we hit thursday and friday when that system moves in bringing us low snow levels and significant rainfall. so things are going to be very, very active around here, mike. hasn't been boring. what are you tracking? >> we're tracking the weather that you're talking about because that definitely makes things a little more interesting on the roads as well. the south bay, we're looking at things starting to build. south 880 not the concern. speeds coming down toward about 60. north 101, this yellow an orange, from 680 to 880, that's the morning commute. the first burst we talk about. that's causing some slowing, especially around the interchange of 880, speeds coming down into the upper 40s as it's getting a little congested at the transition itself. also in mountain view, i want to call out southbound 101 heading past shoreline. still may be down to one lane for the next ten to 15 minutes. no slowing right now shows up on

our sensors so just something to keep in mind as you're traveling into the south bay. a live look outside shows you both sides of the bay. here we have northbound 101 past the university shopping center, a nice smooth drive up into the city. on the other side of the bay, fremont, this is the southbound side here with these headlights past the new sign for the fremont auto mall. that's a new landmark for us. we see the volume building. no marge slowing through fremont or up toward the bay bridge toll plaza. in fact across the bay, a nice drive westbound and looping back over to the city side. picking up the volume but the backup at the toll plaza just for the cash lanes, guys. back to you. hercules police are heading to washington state this morning to interview a married couple caught driving a car belonging to a murdered east bay teacher. the car was owned by 55-year-old susie ko who was found stabbed to death last week at her home. police in washington arrested the couple yesterday after a

pursuit. investigators are trying to figure out how the couple got ko's car and if the pair are responsible for they are death. ko's neighbors are relieved. >> i'm glad they caught them. they finally caught somebody. it's just awesome. >> the couple, darnell and tania washington, have been on the run since late august. investigators say darnell recently escaped from a southern california prison and that his wife helped him. this next story has quickly gone from local to national. a bay area teen at the center of a controversial boy scout stigs will be on "ellen" today for her show. ryan andresen was a boy scout 12 years before he was denied his eagle scout award simply because he was gay. ironically andresen's final scouting project focusing on tolerance. >> i've been bullied a lot of my life so i went to my middle school and created a wall of 268

tiles and told the students it was a wall to combat bullying. >> while the boy scouts organization itself may be turning a cold shoulder, many boy scout members are reaching out. >> so far 170 people have pledged to send me their eagle pin and 50 of them coming from my own troop. >> wow. >> yeah, it's truly amazing. >> we can tell you at the end ellen announces she has something very special for andresen. no, it wasn't an eagle pin, but we can't tell you. it's a pretty incredible gift. to find out exactly what it is, watch "ellen" today at 4:00 right here on nbc bay area. 5:50. the giants and a's try to complete their comeback today. live reports are coming up. plus doubling down on a naughty tweet. we'll take a look coming up.

a good thursday morning to you. taking a live look outside overlooking the south bay this morning in san jose. waiting for the sun's arrival. kind of wacky weather we've been having. meteorologist christina loren keeping tabs on all of it for us. it is 5:53. you know, a number of bay area cities could actually see their credit ratings downgraded. this week moody's announced berkeley and 30 other cities and municipalities in california could have those scores lowered. other affected cities include danville, los gatos, oakland, petaluma and san leandro. santa rosa as well as santa clara and sunnyvale. moody's says it's taking a closer look at california cities

after stockton, san bernardino and mammoth lakes declared bankruptcy just months ago. scott mcgrew joins us now. scott, some of those cities' names are a surprise. los gatos, santa clara, for instance, largely financially healthy. >> yeah, but they're in california, laura. that's enough to raise concerns because cities do depend on states for some funding and california is not a state you can depend on. city debt is a concern all over the united states. while we've gotten through home debt, national debt will be solved one way or the other this january when we hit the fiscal cliff, city debt is still that great unknown. former general electric ceo jack welch defending a tweet when he accused the bomb administration of faking the job numbers. he said he feels he flilives in communist country because of his views of the government. shortly after the unemployment rates had fallen he tweeted

unbelievable jobs numbers. those chicago guys will do anything. can't debate so change numbers. welch did later say perhaps he should have added a question mark to the end to show he was raising the question. even republicans are publicly distancing themselves from welch because as we have gone over countless times, a falling unemployment rate without strong job growth can be explained mathematically. i should point out as you well know, general electric is 49% owner of this tv station, used to be 100%, and at the time jack welch was our boss or our because boss's, boss's, boss's, boss's, boss's boss. >> and he's waiting on the phone for you. >> 49%, let me remind you. 5:55 right now. let's check things out with christina loren. busy, busy week in that weather department. >> yeah, we're still staying active today. good morning to you at home. let's take you through your

hour-by-hour detail for the day. temperatures aren't going to climb all that much between noon and 4:00 p.m. we're talking about the 70s inland. also if your inland cities closest to the foothills, closest to the mountains that have the best chance of seeing thunderstorms later on this afternoon, you have a slighter risk bayside and at the coast. however, it's going to be cool out there. 67 degrees by the bay today, 64 at the coast. we're expecting another wave of rain later on this evening. we'll time that up for you coming up. good morning, we're looking at increased volume for 101 so the commute hitting and sticking as far as the slowdowns. the maps will show you this area north of 680 all the way up to 880 growing as far as the orange zone. that means speeds dipping down around the upper 40s on the entire stretch heading up towards 880 and that volume will start to build toward that 280 interchange and likely for highway 87. there you go just north of where it says seven trees, we do see some slowing already in the northbound direction. also a smooth drive coming out

of the castro valley y but no problems reported. it's just north 238 that's the issue. a smooth transition towards highway 92 and the san mateo bridge. a live look shows you the volume picking up getting over the peninsula but no problems. still ahead, yes, the giants and the a's invigorating bay area baseball fans. we'll have live reports from oakland and cincinnati coming up next. in fact right now let's take a live look outside. port of oakland all lit up. look at the traffic there in the background picking up as well. as mike mentioned, he's got tabs on all of it for you as well as the forecast with christina loren. 5:57. ♪

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